Steel Scar
by Julian Amici
Summary: Kotetsu Isane just isn't a party animal. She tends to drown herself in work. That's why she was ordered by her captain, her subordinates, even her patients to go to one. -Oneshot-


**Steel Scar**

By: Julian Amici

Kotetsu Isane had never really been one for social gatherings. She believed that with all the sparing and kidou practice going on, the work of the 4th squad was never really done. She didn't like to leave a patient in bed with no one to care about them, but today even her patients insisted they would be fine without her for a day. They had heard of the Lieutenant's gathering that was going on, and insisted she actually take a day off and go. So there she was, surrounded by people she normally didn't socialize with. Matsumoto Rangiku was polishing off probably her third bottle of sake, Sasakibe Choujiro, Abarai Renji, and Izuru Kira were being cornered and nearly interrogated by Kusajishi Yachiru, Ise Nanao, Kuchiki Rukia, Oumaeda Marechiyo, and Iba Tetsuzaemon, while Kurotsuchi Nemu and Hisagi Shuuhei were standing by a table chatting. The only lieutenant who she thought she could reasonably converse with was not there, as Hinamori Momo was still in pretty bad shape. So there she sat, right next to a houseplant, trying very hard not to look uncomfortable. 'Why did I even come to this?' she asked herself. 'I would have been able to relax more taking a walk through the forest, not watching all my fellow lieutenants get cozy with each other.' She looked over at Sasakibe Choujiro. 'It's too bad he's getting mobbed at the moment. I could probably hold a real conversation with him.'

Without warning, she felt a presence appear beside her. As she looked to the side, she saw another lieutenant plop down in the chair next to her. "Man, parties like this are a huge pain, don't you think, Kotetsu-san?" Hisagi Shuuhei seemed just as bored as she was uncomfortable at this party, as he lightly scratched his face right underneath the number 69 tattooed on him. "All it is is a party for Abarai, Sasakibe, and Izuru for making it into the final round of that captain's tournament." He slowly looked over to the woman right next to him. "Hey, Kotetsu-san, you there?"

Isane shook herself out of her reverie. "Yes, I'm sorry Hisagi-san." A small blush formed on her cheeks, as she felt a bit embarrassed about zoning out like that. "Well, the only reason I'm here is because my captain, my subordinates, AND my patents insisted I get out of the office and come here."

Shuuhei let out an immodest laugh. "Well, I can understand that. This is your first day off in a month, isn't it?"

Her blush darkened, and a tiny bit of anger showed on her face. "Is it so wrong that I like to help people, that I want to heal people as well as I can?"

Shuuhei raised his hands defensively. "No, of course not, but if you work yourself to death, then you won't be able to help anyone." He lowered his arms, and leaned in closer, whispering. "Besides, I don't think anyone would blame you for taking a little time off for yourself. It's not like any of the injuries are life threatening at the moment. Rest is always an integral part of training." He leaned in a bit closer. "Anyway, if you don't take a little time for yourself, you'll never be able to keep up that amazing beauty of yours."

At that exact moment, Isane realized there were different kinds of blushes. The angry/embarrassed blush was replaced with a shy disbelief type of blush. Though she was certain they looked the same, they certainly felt different. She suddenly remembered when she had seen Shuuhei for the first time. He had already been a lieutenant for a few years before she became one, and she remembered developing a small crush on him, one she buried in work. Now all those feelings she had buried for so long were coming to the surface. "Um… you really think I'm beautiful?"

Shuuhei threw his arms behind his head. "Of course. Everyone does. You're on pretty much everyone's top three list."

"Top three list?"

His arms dropped to his side, and he avoided her gaze. "Well, just like there's a Shinigami Women's Society, there's also a Shinigami Men's Club. We all talk about stuff. All of us have a 'top three' list, where our top three choices in women are documented. You're on virtually everyone's."

Isane was torn between feeling flattered or violated. She liked that a lot of people thought she was attractive, but she didn't like the idea of a bunch of men putting her on a rating system. "What about you, who are your top three?"

"Well, it's really informal. It's not like I really took it seriously. I don't like talking about people behind their back, even if it's good."

She let a small smile grace her lips. "I'm glad. I'm glad I was right when I said you were different than Iba-san, or Oumaeda-san."

"Was someone talking trash about me?"

"No no, nothing like that. Rukia-san just thought you looked like a womanizer. I told her you were different than the others."

Shuuhei looked confused for a moment. "So, people think Iba and Oumaeda are womanizers?"

"Well, not exactly, they just seem like unsavory types."

"Well, that's true, Oumaeda is lazy and Iba looks like a Yakuza member." He let out a small laugh. "How Oumaeda got to be lieutenant of the Special Forces I'll never know."

Isane couldn't hold back and joined Shuuhei in laughing. As soon as they calmed down, she looked up. "Oh, no."

Shuuhei looked up to see the same sight. It was normal to see Rangiku being drunk at a party, but now Iba and Sasakibe were having a drinking contest, and it looked like everyone else was getting thoroughly sloshed as well. "Well, I don't' have any love of drinking with people, do you wanna get out of here? You know, before Rukia gets drunk and starts throwing chairs again?"

Isane shuttered remembering the last time Rukia got drunk. Four people were sent to the clinic that night. "Yeah, I think that's a good idea." The two quickly got up and walked toward the door, trying to be as discreet as possible. Fortunately, everyone seemed to be a bit to preoccupied with the drinking contest and the newly airborne chairs that they were able to make a timely escape. "Well, tomorrow will be busy."

Shuuhei began walking down a path Isane knew led to the forest. "Come on, I always thought the forest was relaxing."

"I know what you mean." Isane quickly fell into step beside him. They walked for a few minutes, reaching the forest barrier, their path lit up by the bright moonlight. As soon as they entered the forest, she looked over to her companion. "So, you never did answer my question. Who's on _your_ top three list?"

Shuuhei sighed. "I never really put too much thought into it. Really, it was just a bunch of snap decisions. That's all!"

"At least I'll know you didn't have time to lie to everyone, and I know you'll tell me the truth."

His head dropped. "Well, my number three was Soi Fon-taicho."

"Aiming high weren't we?" she said with a giggle.

"No, like I said, I didn't really put any thought into it. It's just the people I think are most attractive. That's all."

Isane nodded. She liked being friendly with him, he was surprisingly easy to embarrass. "Okay, so who else was on your list?"

"Well, my number two was Hinamori Momo." A blush painted his own cheeks, one which was visible even in the shadow of the trees.

"Ah, yeah, she's such a young and sweet girl. I bet she was on a lot of the lists too."

"Not really. Just mine, Hitsugaya-taicho's and Kira's."

"But let me guess, your number one, just like pretty much everyone else was Rangiku, right?"

Shuuhei looked at her, surprise etched on his face. "What? No! I mean, yeah, she was most everyone else's top choice, even Hitsugaya-taicho's, but I don't see what everyone else sees in her. She just seems like a giant flirt to me."

"Oh, so then it was that one Ryouka who broke in, that orange-haired girl, Inoue-something…"

"No, that's not it, I don't like that kind of thing…"

"Oh, then it's Rukia? I know Renji likes her quite a bit…"

"No, it's not anything like that either…"

"Oh, don't tell me you have a think for Yachiru…"

"No… Yachiru, ew, no…"

"Nemu-chan?"

"It's you!" Shuuhei nearly screamed. The blush that was on his face got impossibly darker, and his eyes shifted away from Isane. "It's you, Isane-san. You're my number one choice."

He didn't notice because it was dark, but Isane's face mirrored Shuuhei's for color. "Um, me? Why?"

Shuuhei turned his back to her, hoping he could say what he needed to, hoping not seeing her would give him the courage. "You're the only one I had really put thought into on my list. Ever since I first say you, when you first became a lieutenant, I thought you were attractive. Then I learned more about you. I learned how you never want to quit, how you always want to help people and make it so that people who got injured didn't suffer. Kind of like me. I've always wanted to train lower-ranked Shinigami so they could protect themselves. I've always wanted to make sure they were strong, so when the time came, they would be able to defend their lives and the lives of those around them. I started to notice that you were very much like me in so many ways, but only the good parts. You don't have any of my bad qualities. I guess what I'm trying to say is that even though I think you're really, really, _really_ beautiful, more than that, I admire you. I fell in love with you because of who you are." He slowly turned around and gazed upon Isane's face. Her cheeks were puffy and tears ran down her cheeks. The smile she wore told him that they were not sad tears. "The fact that you're really hot was just a bonus."

Despite all the other emotions raging through her mind, the laughter won out and she started to giggle. "Shuuhei-kun, I have plenty of bad things about me. I tend to be forgetful, and I work too much, and I don't exactly eat right. Don't even get me started on what I'm like when I get a few cups of sake in me." She walked over and enveloped Shuuhei in a hug. "You know, I've always had a crush on you. I always saw you as so hard-working, and kind, and actually, um…"

Shuuhei returned the hug, tears beginning to fall down his face too. "Isane-chan…"

"Well, I've always thought you were, um…"

He backed up a little and looked her in the eyes. "What is it?"

"Well, the best words I can think of are what Soi Fon-taicho said about you." Isane cleared her throat. She then closed the back of her throat a little. "People always say I do a really good impression of her…" She cleared her throat one more time. "That Hisagi is one fine piece of man-meat."

"WHAT!?" Shuuhei's eyes widened, and his mouth hung open.

"Her words, exactly. She leaned in and kissed him on the lips. "I fell in love with you too. I just wish I hadn't buried myself in work for so long."

Shuuhei didn't feel that words were necessary anymore. He simply pushed her up against a tree and pressed his lips roughly against hers.

"Ow." She managed to get in between kisses.

"Sorry."

"S'okay." Her tongue explored his mouth and her hands found their way underneath his kimono top. She felt his muscles unconsciously flex and relax under her ministrations."

"Wow, those two are really going at it, aren't they?" said the voice of Abarai Renji.

Isane and Shuuhei quickly jumped off each other and snapped their attention to the direction of the voice, horrified as they saw not only all the lieutenants, but several of their captains as well. Isane nearly fainted when she spotted Unohana Retsu waving to her from behind Rukia, who smacked Renji across the back of his head. "Dumbass" she said, obviously still drunk, still clutching a chair in her other hand.

"Way to go Shuuhei!" Kira cheered. "I told you you should go for it."

"Oh my God I've never been this mortified in my entire life." Isane simply sank to her knees and put her face in her hands. Shuuhei tried terribly hard not to look guilty, even though he had been caught in the act.

Unohana walked over. "There's no need to be embarrassed, Kotetsu-chan. You've always really liked him, and besides, Soi Fon was definitely right about him.

Shuuhei blushed as Isane spoke, her hands still covering her face. "Unohana-taicho, I _told_ Shuuhei-kun what Soi Fon-taicho said!"

Unohana's face turned as red as a tomato as she turned around and walked very stiffly away from the two.

Shuuhei looked over to see Kira and Renji dragging away a very red-faced Rukia, who was saying something about pummeling them with chairs. "Seriously, what is that girl's fixation on sitting devices?" He looked to the other Shinigami who were just standing there, and suddenly became very angry. "What're you all looking at? This isn't a sideshow!"

With that, everyone else disappeared. "How did they know we were out here?" Isane asked, seeming to be crying a bit.

"I guess they noticed us leaving the party and decided to follow us rather than demand we stay." He got down on his knees next to Isane and pulled her into a hug. "Well, I guess this means we don't have to go through any awkward 'let's hide it from everyone' stage, huh?"

Isane let out a small laugh, tears still staining her cheeks. "Well, I wasn't planning to keep it a secret or anything, I just would rather have not had everyone in Soul Society watch me start to peel off your clothes."

Shuuhei shifted his head and kissed her on the cheek. She responded with her own kiss on his cheek, and they kept on kissing, moving their heads until their lips met. "Well, we could always head deeper into the forest. We do have all night to talk with each other."

Isane wiped the tears away from her face. "Well, I guess we could _start off_ talking…"

Shuuhei laughed and stood up, taking Isane by the hand. "I know the perfect spot. Come with me."

End

Now hit that Review button. I don't know why, but I always thought these two would make a really cute couple. I wrote this piece listening to Incubus – Love Hurts. It's a good song by a good band.

The story is called Steel Scar because, well, Shuuhei has a scar, and Kotetsu is Japanese for 'steel'. Neither Shuuhei nor Hisagi really mean anything in Japanese, so I just went for one of Hisagi's characteristics. My first inclination for this story was to call it 'Steel 69', but that would REALLY give people the wrong idea. So I was torn between 'Steel Tattoo' and 'Steel Scar', and 'Steel Scar' just sounded cooler to me.

As for the captain's seats tournament, I'm currently working on a story that involves that. It's just on my mind, so there it is.


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